מָצוֹד (ma.tsod)
ma.tsod
siegework; net; stronghold
H:N-MQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 6 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:N-M
Word Overview
The Hebrew word matsod describes a place or device designed to trap or hold something fast. Its core meaning spans two distinct images: a military siege engine used to breach fortifications, and a hunting net used to catch prey. In the wisdom literature of Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, and Job, this term captures the inescapable nature of danger or fate.
When applied to warfare, it refers to the battering rams and earthworks that surround a city, turning a stronghold into a prison. When used for hunting, it denotes the physical net itself. This duality allows the text to portray human life as being caught between external threats and internal vulnerabilities, where safety is often an illusion.
Its most striking usage appears in Ecclesiastes 9:14, describing a small city besieged by a great king. The verse highlights how wisdom can save the city from the siege works, yet the poor wise man is forgotten and his wisdom is lost. Here, matsod represents the crushing weight of power against which even insight struggles to provide lasting security.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word matsod paints two very different pictures: a heavy military siege engine crushing a city walls, or a hunter’s net waiting to catch prey. Both images speak to how life can feel inescapable. Sometimes the pressure comes from outside forces beyond our control, like the great king besieging the small city in Ecclesiastes 9:14. Other times, it feels like we are caught in a trap we cannot see until it is too late.
Yet this word also carries a quiet hope. In Job 19:6, Job feels surrounded by God’s net, yet he still speaks to the Lord. The text does not promise that traps will never close around us, but it shows that wisdom and faith can help us navigate through them. Even when danger seems total, there is room for escape and understanding.
We do not face these pressures alone. The same God who allows trials also provides the way out. When you feel caught in a difficult season, remember that your worth is not defined by the trap you are in, but by the One who sees you through it.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 6 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- siege works1×
- in/ a net1×
- and/ stronghold/ its1×
- and/ net/ his1×
- a net of1×
- [is] snares1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- מְצוֹדִ֧ים1×
- מְצוֹדִ֥ים1×
- מְצ֣וֹד1×
- וּ֝/מְצוּד֗/וֹ1×
- וּ/מְצֹ֣דָתָ֔/הּ1×
- בִּ/מְצוֹדָ֣ה1×
Key Verses
-
Ecclesiastes 9:14
There was a little city, and few men within it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it.
This verse uses the word to describe physical siege works, showing how overwhelming external power can be against a small city.
-
Job 19:6
know now that God has subverted me, and has surrounded me with his net.
Here the term appears as a net surrounding Job, illustrating his sense of being trapped by circumstances he cannot control.
-
Ecclesiastes 9:12
For man also doesn’t know his time. As the fish that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, even so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly on them.
The word describes an evil net catching fish, emphasizing how sudden danger can snare people just as it catches prey.